Sling back shoe



March 29, 1960 J. SANDLER SLINGBACK SHOE Filed Oct. 15. 1956 Jana?Sandiezi,

United States Patent SLING BACK SHOE Jack Sandler, Newton, Mass.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to Travelmaster Shoemakers, Inc.,Needham, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 15,1956, SerialNo. 616,003

8 Claims. (Cl. 36-585) pieces connected by a buckle to provideadjustment. One

of the objections to this type of shoe is the tendency of the strap toslip off the wearers heel. The wearers foot also lifts away from theshoe at the heel in walking, aggravating the tendency of the strap toslide down. The heel part of such a shoe slides from side to side andwill twist readily, and the generally poor support afforded by the openheel gives the wearer a feeling of insecurity. Furthermore, the constantmovement of the strap is likely to irritate the wearers heel. If thestrap is made very tight in an eflfort to overcome these difliculties,the foot is forced forward from the proper position, and the forepartbecomes cramped. These difficulties are encountered in both low andhighheeled shoes, but especially the latter, and prevent many women fromwearing sling or halter back styles. The insertion of a piece of theelastic in the heel strap only partially solves the problem, anddetracts from the appearance of the shoe.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a shoe structurewhich overcomes the difficulties just described and enables sling orhalter back shoes to be worn with comfort, even for active walking anddancing. Other objects are to provide a structure which enhances, ratherthan detracts from, the appearance of the shoe, which is simple tomanufacture and which may be readily applied to shoes manufactured byany of the customary methods.

According to this invention the heel strap is cut so that the endsextend in under the arch of the foot. The ends are joined to alongitudinal elastic gore which extends, both to the front and to therear of the ends of the strap. The ends of the gore are secured to theinsole, leaving the intermediate portion of the gore free to stretch.Preferably the ends of the gore are passed through slits in the insoleand stitched or stapled on the under side. The elastic is attached tothe insole without initial tension, but the heel strap is preferablymade somewhat shorter than would be customary for a conventional strapattached to the shoe the same distance forward of the heel, so that theforward part of the elastic gore is placed under tension when the shoeis put on.

In the drawings illustrating the invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a shoe constructed according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section, somewhat enlarged, taken alongline 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the gore and heel strap in the region oftheir connection.

The shoe here shown has a vamp 10, an outer sole 11, a heel 12, and aninsole which may he of any conventional type but is here illustrated asconsisting of a relaice tively stiff tuck piece '13 extending throughthe heel and arch portion, and a flexible forepart 14. A metal counter15 is disposed between the outer sole and tuck 13. The heel strap 16 isformed as one piece shaped to pass around the heel and under the arch ofthe foot, and has a similarly shaped lining 17. The end portions 16a and16b of the strap are butted, as shown in Fig. 3, on a longitudinal linesubstantially along the center of the shoe. A generally square bottomliner piece 18 of thin leather or other soft lining material is disposedunder the end portions 16a, 16b. A gore 19 is disposed longitudinallyalong the arch portion of the shoe above the in sole, and is made'ofelastic disposed to'stretch in the longitudinal direction. The endportions 19a and 19b of the gore are passed through transverse slits 20and 21 in the insole and secured to the. under side of the insole bystitching or stapling. ['A square top piece 22, similar to piece 18, isdisposed on top of the gore and two parallel rows of stitching 23 and 24pass through all the margins of piece 22, the gore, the heel strap andlining end portions, and piece 18. The sock lining is made in twopieces, a forepart 25 and a heel part 26, which butt at line 2912 underthe gore and strap joint. The sock lining parts have slits 27 and 28,corresponding to slits 20 and 21, respectively, to receive the gore. Forease in assembly, parts 25 and 26 are longitudinally split between slits27 and 28 along a central line 29.

It will be noted that the strap ends and liner pieces are not fixed tothe insole in any way. Gore 19 has a free central portion extending fromslit 20 to slit 21, which is longer than the attached ends of the strapand top and bottom pieces, leaving forward and rear portions and 19d,respectively, which are free to stretch. The heel strap can thus as awhole move back and forth in the shoe.

The heel strap, being free of the insole at the sides, fits snugly underthe arch of the foot as well as around the back of the heel. The strapis made slightly shorter than a conventional heel strap, designed to beattached to the shoe in the same position, so that when the shoe isplaced on the foot, portion 190 of the gore is under tension. The heelstrap is thus held securely on the heel. As the foot bends in walking,causing the strap assembly to rise, portion 19d is placed under tension.As a result the heel part of the shoe is carried up and stays close tothe foot.

In the preferred manner of assembling the shoe, the gore 19 is laidupside down, the ends of the heel strap and strap lining, previouslystitched together along their edges, are laid on top of the gore, andbottom piece 18 placed on top of these end portions. The parts are thenstitched together back and forth along a number of lines 30. Top piece22 is then applied and stitched to the other parts by lines of stitching23 and 24. The end portions 19a and 1% are inserted through slits 20 and21 and attached to the insole. The gore is attached flat withoutsubstantial initial tension. The insole is then assembled to the otherparts of the shoe in any customary manner. The split parts of the socklining parts are laid under the gore and cemented down.

A shoe made in this manner, as well as eliminating slippage of the heelstrap, gives complete comfort and good support to the foot, because theheel strap fits more snugly under the arch at all times than strapsattached directly to the sole part of a shoe. The heel of the shoefollows the foot more closely when the foot is bent and thus eliminatesthe unsightly gaping and the danger of turning the heel, which arecharacteristic faults of conventional sling or halter back shoes.Furthermore, the strap does not tend to stretch or tear at the sides.

It is understood that the end portions 19a and 19b of the gore could beanchored to the shoe in other ways, for example to the top of the insoleor to the outer sole.

3 The strap may be made in two pieces and provided with a buckle orother joint, but this is not necessary: A smooth one-piece strap isusually preferable as the free end of a buckle strap will sometimes curlup, and a buckle may catch on clothing or furniture.

This structure is particularly desirable for sling back shoes, whichhave no strap over the instep to hold the heel strap in place. The goreand heel. strap assembly may be used to advantage, however, on all typesof open heeled shoes, for example on ankle strap sandals.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe comprising a sole having a foot-facing surface, Iongitudinallyelastic means disposed longitudinal- 1y of said sole and exposed onlyalong the shank portion of said sole above said surface, said elasticmeans having its front and back end portions only attached to said soleand substantially all of the portion intermediate said end portionssnugly overlying the foot-facing surface of the shank portion of saidsole, a heel sling adapted to pass around the heel and under the arch ofthe foot of the wearer, said heel sling being attached to saidintermediate portion only, said sling being yield,- ably movablebackwardly and forwardly with respect to said sole.

2. A shoe as defined in claim 1, in which said heel sling issubstantially inelastic throughout its extent.

3. A shoe as defined in claim 1, in which said sole has a pair oflongitudinally spaced transverse slots adjacent said end portions, andsaid end portions of the longitudinally elastic means extend through therespective slots and are attached to the sole below the footfacingsurface.

4. A shoe as defined in claim 1 in which said elastic means is a fiatstrip and has a smooth-faced element of greater width than said stripsecured to the foot-facing surface thereof and over the forward part ofthe heel sling.

5. A shoe as defined in claim 4 in which said flat strip has liningelements of greater width than said strip secured on each surfacethereof and stitched together through said strip.

6. A shoe as defined in claim 4 in which the shoe has a sock lining oversaid sole, and said sock lining is formed above said sock lining,substantially the entire length of said exposed portion snugly overlyingsaid sock lining, the end portions, of said, strip being passeddownwardly through the respective slots, and said end portions onlybeing secured to said sole, and. a heel sling adapted to pass around theheel and under the arch of the foot of the wearer, said heel sling beingattached to the intermediate portion only of said strip and beingyieldably movable backwardly and forwardly with respect to said sole.

8. A shoe comprising a sole having a foot-facing surface, a flatlongitudinally elastic strip disposed longitudinally of said sole andexposed only along the shank portion of said sole above said surface,said strip being considerably narrower than said sole in said shankportion, said strip having its front and back end portions only attachedto said sole and substantially all of the portion intermediate said endportions snugly overlying the foot-facing surface of the shank portionof said sole, a heel sling adapted to pass around the heel and under thearch of the foot of the wearer, said heel sling being attached to saidintermediate portion only, said sling being yieldably movable backwardlyand forwardly with respect to said sole.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,989,613 Diseh Jan. 29, 1935 2,024,729 Gustin Dec. 17, 1935 2,707,342Maccarone May 3, 1955 2,729,900 Maccarone Jan. 10, 1956 2,734,285 LevittFeb. 14, 1956 2,776,503 Maccarone Jan. 8, 1957

